SFC: Moynalvey comeback holds Na Fianna

Na Fianna and Moynalvey played out an entertaining draw in round 4 of Group C of the Meath Senior Football Championship at sunny Kildalkey before a large crowd on Sunday evening.

Na Fianna opened brightly playing up into the village goals with points from Dean Barrett; Daniel Queeney; Conor Downey. A fine team move lead to a Dean Barrett goal which was followed by a Jamie Queeney pointed free to leave the score 1-4 to 0-2 after 15 minutes. Moynalvey rallied briefly to score the next 3 points but the Baconstown/Enfield and Rathmoylan parish team finished the half brightly with a Shane Barrett goal followed by 2 Jamie Queeney points left the half time score Na Fianna 2-6 Moynalvey 0-5.

Moynalvey started the second half well with a 1-1 from their full forward to reduce the margin to 3 points with 5 minutes gone, the teams exchanged 5 points each over the next 15 minutes with Na Fianna's scores coming from Ollie Lewis and Dalton McDonagh from play and 3 placed balls from Daniel Queeney, one a 45. Indeed Queeney free in 18 minutes was to be Na Fianna's last score of the game as the maroon jersey Moynalvey team to complete control of the match and came storming forward in waves to score 3 points in the remainder of the game to earn a merited draw.

Best for Na Fianna in a below par performance were Shane Geraghty; Damien & Conor Downey and Dean Barrett.

With only one round of matches still to be played in Group C only Donaghmore/Ashbourne with four wins have qualified for the quarter-finals and the other five sides (Na Fianna; St Patricks; Summerhill; Moynalvey and Rathkenny) still have a mathematical chance of getting the other 2 qualification places on offer.

A second half comeback from a half time deficit of seven points saw Moynalvey take a well deserved point from this round 4 game in group C of the Hoganstand.com Senior Football Championship played at a well presented Kildalkey on Sunday evening August 17th.

Moynalvey 1-14 Na Fianna 2-11

At half time few would have believed Moynalvey would gain anything from the game as the team who beat them by fifteen points in last year's quarter final seemed to score with every attack in the opening half, taking a seven point lead into the interval on a 2-6 to 0-5 score line. However a resurgent Moynalvey team took to the field for the second half and dominated last year's Keegan cup runners up for the majority of the second period.

The first three minutes yielded as many scores with Dean Barrett opening the scoring for the Enfield/Baconstown combination side within sixty seconds of the throw in, Fearghal McCabe replying for Moynalvey, before Daniel Queeney regained the lead for Na Fianna in the 3rd minute. Conor Downey doubled Na Fianna's lead in the 5th minute before Moynalvey centre forward Mark O'Sullivan sent over a sublime effort with the outside of the boot for the first of his ten points. Throughout the early stages Dean Barrett caused plenty of problems for the Moynalvey rearguard and scored his second score of the game in the 7th minute which raised the games first green flag. Barrett's goal was quickly followed by a converted free from Jamie Queeney leaving Moynalvey five points in arrears on a 1-4 to 0-2 score line after 11 minutes of play.

A trio of points from Moynalvey's O'Sullivan between the 15th and 20th minutes, two from frees and another peach of a score with the outside of the boot once again reduced the margin between the sides to two points. Na Fianna once again cut the Moynalvey defence open in the 30th minute to score the game's second goal, this time the other Barrett brother Shane finding the back of Moynalvey goalkeeper Ray Ryan's net. Moynalvey lost defender Brian Harnan to a serious shoulder injury which resulted in a large amount of additional time added onto the first half. In this additional time Jamie Queeney posted a brace of points leaving Na Fianna in what looked like a commanding seven point half time lead.

Two minutes after the restart Moynalvey received the perfect boost that they needed when full forward James Weldon fired the ball past Na Fianna 'keeper Shane Geraghty for the game's third goal. Two minutes later just a kick of the ball separated the sides, 2-6 to 1-6, when Weldon split the uprights. Na Fianna doubled their lead to six points with points from Daniel Queeney, Ollie Lewis and Dalton McDonagh in the 5th, 7th and 9th minutes of the second period. Three Moynalvey points, two frees from O'Sullivan and a Shane Lenihan effort left just the goal between the sides once again on the three quarter hour mark. Two Daniel Queeney placed balls, one a free and the second a '45 in the 51st minute would prove to be Na Fianna's last scores.

Moynalvey reeled off five points in the final nine minutes with county footballer Mark O'Sullivan leading the way with four points and the fifth coming from the boot of county minor footballer David McLoughlin to salvage a well deserved point to keep themselves in the Championship.

Moynalvey now look forward to a final round group game against the 2013 Keegan cup winners and neighbours Summerhill. Both sides still harbour hopes on qualifying for the knockout stages of the championship dependant on other final round group game results.

Best for Moynalvey in this encounter were Darren Brennan, Padraic Harnan, John Donoghue and the excellent Mark O'Sullivan.